Page 47 of Hearts Lost

ITHRONEL

LIKE A NIGHTMARE

“It’s getting closer,” I say.

Fear sends a shiver up my back that I try to disguise by readjusting the cloak tied around my shoulders. We’d slept late this morning, both of us exhausted after a day of the most satisfying sex of my life, and then we’d spent most of the afternoon traveling slowly up the river, stopping to pick more horrible fruit, and sharing stories about life in our respective Royal Guards that usually ended in laughter so loud it startled the already spooked shadow animals as they drifted through the trees around us.

Aloserin nods, then walks to the riverbank. The sound of another waterfall rumbles softly through the heavy, warm air. Something in my chest pinches tight as Aloserin vanishes around a curve in the riverbank, then eases when he reappears a moment later, waving his arm. I pick my way through the muddy grass, following him around a curve in the riverbank where trees grow so close to the water that we have to pick our way through drooping branches and knotted roots.

The sound of the waterfall grows louder as I follow Aloserin through the underbrush, and I welcome the pounding, roaring distraction. The animals’ unease has been growing stronger all day, and it’s been hard to keep their fear from rubbing off on me. Especially since I still don’t know exactly what’s made them so jumpy.

Their fear feels almost familiar, though, like an echo of the wariness that greeted me when I first awoke in the field of blue grass. If I hadn’t heard all of Aloserin’s horror stories about the void, I’d guess the animals were sensing someone else from the Kingdom of the Fall. But that’s absurd; I can’t imagine anyone from Aloserin’s kingdom would ever willingly travel here. Not if they were raised on stories like the ones Aloserin has shared.

The sound of rushing water swells in the heavy air. Aloserin pulls back a branch in front of me. I push through a tangle of roots and—

“Oh!” I gasp.

It’s lovely. Unlike the bizarre mockery of a waterfall that we’d somehow traveled through as we left the dark beach, what lies in front of us now is a long, wide fan spreading over a rough outcrop of dark stone. Water tumbles over dozens of rocky steps, sending up fans of dancing spray that catch the violet light and transform it into hundreds of rainbows. Little golden flecks of light rise and fall in the air above the waterfall, making the entire scene shimmer like one of the court entertainer’s illusions.

I turn to Aloserin, my heart in my throat. He’s watching the scene with his arms crossed over his chest, and I wonder if he realizes he’s smiling.

“Wow,” I whisper. “It’s beautiful.”

“And it’s defensible,” Aloserin adds. “We’ll see anything trying to come down that.”

Defensible would be one of the last words I’d use to describe this place. Or anything, really; my mind doesn’t work that way. Stars, if it were just me out here, I’d be lost. I turn to Aloserin with a smile and run my fingers across the rough stubble on his cheek.

“I’m sure the Kingdom of the Fall is missing their most brilliant strategist,” I say.

Aloserin makes a noise like he’s trying to dismiss what I just said, but I stop his argument with a kiss. My hand sinks into his hair as our lips and tongues embrace. His arms wrap around my waist, and finally, the low, buzzing sense of fear that’s been filling my mind all day falls away and it’s just us, just this moment, just this kiss.

And I want more. Stars, I always want more of him. I tilt my hips against Aloserin, melting into his embrace as our kiss deepens. His hand drops to the curve of my ass and tilts my hips forward until I’m pressed against the hard length of his arousal, desperate and aching for him despite the layers of clothing between us. He pulls away from our kiss and drops his lips to my neck, and I gasp as his hungry mouth traces a line to the fraying laces of my bodice.

A sudden burst of fear lances through the animal prowling the woods above the waterfall; I jump. A moment later there’s a sound like wings. Aloserin and I look up to see the air above the trees fill with dozens of dark shapes, shadows drifting and pulling into the violet sky, following the curve of the river away from here. The animal’s consciousness fragments as it drifts through the air in a dozen different pieces, heading away from the danger.

Aloserin’s arms drop from my waist, and he turns back to the waterfall.

“Any idea what it is yet?” he asks.

I shake my head. There’s something out there, a dull throb of consciousness like the buzzing of a beehive, but I can’t quite make it out. Aloserin turns back to me with a rueful sort of grin.

“I suppose we probably shouldn’t get too distracted,” he says, his lips twisting as he drags his gaze up and down my body in a way that makes me feel like I might just burst into flames.

I run my fingers gently down his chest, brushing the soft, dark fabric hiding the gorgeous planes of his body.

“Then stop being so damn distracting,” I tell him.

“You started it,” he replies.

“Oh, no,” I say, giving his arm a little shove. “You kissed me, you ass.”

His grin widens, and then he spins back to stare at the waterfall.

“I’m going to climb it,” he announces. “See what’s up there.”

That low thread of alarm tightens in my gut again, although at this point I can’t tell if it’s coming from me or from the animals that have spent all morning trying to get away from whatever’s coming down this river.

“Be careful,” I say.